Ptolemy IX Soter
Ptolemy IX Soter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Successor | Ptolemy X Alexander I (107 BC) Berenice III (81 BC) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Consorts | Cleopatra III of Egypt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | 143/2 BC[1] or 140/39 BC[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | December 81 BC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dynasty | Ptolemaic dynasty |
Ptolemy IX Soter II
Ptolemy IX became the heir apparent after the murder of his half-brother
Background and early life
When the Ptolemaic king
Ptolemy IX was the son of Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III. The exact date of his birth is a bit unclear. As pharaoh, his
Initially, Ptolemy IX was not the heir to the throne – that was
Around 117 BC, Ptolemy IX was sent to Cyprus, reportedly at his mother's request, where he served as governor of the island (strategos, nauarchos, archiereus, archikynegos).
First reign (116–107 BC)
Will of Ptolemy VIII
On 28 June 116, Ptolemy VIII died. According to
Some historians have found this account plausible.[11] However, Chris Bennett argues that it is a false story that was invented by Cleopatra III at a later date. He points out that Justin's story assumes that Cleopatra III was the only living queen at the time of Ptolemy VIII's death. Documentary evidence shows that Cleopatra II was still alive in 116 BC, which makes it unlikely that Cleopatra III would have been allowed sole power to decide who would be king.[12]
At any rate, Cleopatra II, Cleopatra III, and Ptolemy IX (in that order) are listed together as co-rulers in surviving papyrus documents from October 116 BC. Ptolemy IX received the epithet Philometor Soter (Mother-loving Saviour). This was the same epithet that Cleopatra II and taken on during her civil war with Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III, which suggests that she played a controlling role in the new regime.[11] Ptolemy X was sent to Cyprus to serve as governor of Cyprus soon after Ptolemy IX's accession.
Divorce, remarriage, and intervention in Seleucid civil war
Cleopatra II died some time before April 115 BC and at this point Cleopatra III became the dominant force in the government. Ptolemy IX was forced to divorce his sister-wife Cleopatra IV, who went off and married her cousin, the Seleucid king
Meanwhile, Ptolemy IX married his younger sister, Cleopatra Selene, with whom he soon had a daughter, Berenice III.[1] Cleopatra Selene was not made co-regent with her new husband, as would have been normal. Instead, in documents from this period, the royal couple were Cleopatra III and Ptolemy IX, who were integrated into the Ptolemaic dynastic cult as the Theoi Philometores Soteres (The Mother-loving Saviour Gods).[17]
Ptolemy IX supported Antiochus IX in his conflict with Antiochus VIII. In 114 BC, Cleopatra IV had been captured and murdered by Antiochus VIII's wife Tryphaena, who was murdered in turn by Antiochus IX in 111 BC.
Expulsion from Alexandria
In autumn 107 BC, a new conflict broke out between Cleopatra III and Ptolemy IX. Pausanias claims that Cleopatra III wounded a number of her own eunuch servants and displayed them to the people as evidence that her son had attempted to have her assassinated, causing the Alexandrians to riot and expel Ptolemy IX from the city. While this was taking place, Ptolemy X had left Cyprus and sailed to Pelusium. Cleopatra III then had him brought to Alexandria and placed on the throne as her new co-regent.[19][3][17] Ptolemy IX had left his two sons behind when he fled Alexandria. He also abandoned Cleopatra Selene, who now seems to have been married to Ptolemy X.[20]
King of Cyprus (107–88 BC)
After his expulsion from Alexandria, Ptolemy IX went to the isle of
In 103 BC, the new Hasmonean King
Second reign (88–81 BC)
Restoration
The army and people of Alexandria turned against Ptolemy X in spring 88 BC and expelled him from Egypt. The Alexandrians then recalled Ptolemy IX to the throne. Ptolemy IX was formally re-crowned as Pharaoh at Memphis in November. In his first reign, Ptolemy had borne the epithet Philometor Soter (Mother-loving saviour), but on his return he dropped the Philometor, since it recalled his mother. The cults and memory of Cleopatra III and Ptolemy X seem to have been officially suppressed.[24]
When Ptolemy IX returned to Egypt, the south of the country had been under the control of Egyptian rebels since 91 BC. Ptolemy sent a large force south in November 88 BC, under the command of the general Hierax.
Roman claims and First Mithridatic War
After his expulsion from Alexandria, Ptolemy X made an attempt to invade Cyprus and recapture control, but was killed in the attempt. Before his death, however, he had taken out a large loan from the Roman Republic, in return for which he produced a will which left his kingdom to the Romans. Although they chose not to take advantage of this, the possibility of Roman intervention hung over Ptolemy IX for the rest of his reign and forced him to adopt a highly deferential posture with the Romans.[24]
In 86 BC, a Roman fleet commanded by
Death and succession
On 5 August 81 BC, Ptolemy IX promoted his daughter Berenice III, who had previously been the wife and co-regent of Ptolemy X, to the status of co-regent. Some sources claim that Ptolemy IX had made Berenice III his co-regent at the start of his second reign in 88 BC, but all documentary evidence shows that he reigned alone until 81BC. Ptolemy died shortly thereafter, probably in December of the same year, leaving her alone on the throne. After a few months of sole rule, her cousin
Regime
In August 115 BC, Ptolemy IX travelled down the
It is possible that construction of certain buildings occurred during the first reign of Ptolemy IX. This would have included work on the Dendera Temple complex and on the temple in Edfu.
Relationship with Rome
A
Marriages and issue
Ptolemy IX is only known to have married twice, first to Cleopatra IV from c. 119 BC until he was forced to divorce her in 115 BC, and secondly to Cleopatra Selene from 115 BC, until he abandoned her during his flight from Alexandria in 107 BC.
At least three children are attested for Ptolemy IX. The birth dates and parentage of his two sons
Ptolemy XII is referred to by Cicero and other ancient sources as an illegitimate son; Pompeius Trogus called him a "nothos" (bastard), while Pausanias wrote that Berenice III was Ptolemy IX's only legitimate offspring.[33] This has discouraged the identification of Ptolemy XII and Ptolemy of Cyprus with the two sons mentioned by Justin. Michael Grant suggested that Ptolemy XII's mother was a Syrian or a partly Greek concubine while Günther Hölbl suggested that she was a member of the Egyptian elite.[34] However, John Pentland Mahaffy and Christopher Bennett argue that they were considered illegitimate simply because their mother had not been a co-regnant queen. They propose Cleopatra IV as the mother, in which case Ptolemy XII and Ptolemy of Cyprus would have been born in 117 and 116 BC respectively. Bennett further proposes that Ptolemy XII and Ptolemy of Cyprus are identical with the two sons mentioned by Justin.[1]
The mother of Ptolemy IX's daughter, Berenice III is not certain either. Cleopatra IV and Cleopatra Selene are candidates, with the former favoured by modern scholarship.[35] Bennett noted that Berenice III's legitimacy was never questioned by ancient historians, and the illegitimacy of Ptolemy IX and Cleopatra IV's marriage makes it more probable that Berenice III was the result of a legitimate marriage, that is between her father and Cleopatra Selene.[36][37]
Name | Image | Birth | Death | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ptolemy XII |
117 or c. 98 BC | February/March 51 BC | King of Egypt (80-58 & 55-51 BC) | |
Ptolemy | 116 or c. 96 BC? | 58 BC | King of Cyprus (80-58 BC) | |
Berenice III | Late 115 or early 114 BC | April 80 BC | Co-regent with Ptolemy X (101-88 BC), Queen of Egypt (81-80 BC)
|
Notes
- ^ Numbering the Ptolemies is a modern convention. Older sources may give a number one higher or lower. The most reliable way of determining which Ptolemy is being referred to in any given case is by epithet (e.g. "Philopator").
Ptolemy IX also took the same title 'Soter' as Ptolemy I. In older references and in more recent references by the German historian Huss, Ptolemy IX may be numbered VIII.
References
- ^ a b c d e f Bennett, Chris. "Ptolemy IX". Egyptian Royal Genealogy. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- ^ a b Hölbl 2001, p. 203
- ^ a b c Ptolemy Soter II and Ptolemy Alexander I at LacusCurtius — (Chapter XI of E. R Bevan's House of Ptolemy, 1923)
- ^ Hölbl 2001, pp. 172–203
- ^ Bennett, Chris. "Cleopatra III". Egyptian Royal Genealogy. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- ^ Bennett, Chris. "Ptolemy Memphites". Egyptian Royal Genealogy. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- OGIS143
- ^ Bennett, Chris. "Cleopatra IV". Egyptian Royal Genealogy. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ Justin, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus 39.3.1
- ^ Pausanias 1.9.1
- ^ a b c Hölbl 2001, pp. 204–205
- ^ Bennett, Chris. "Cleopatra II". Egyptian Royal Genealogy. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ Antiochus IX at Livius.org
- ^ Ptolemy VI Philometor and Cleopatra II at Livius.org
- ^ Justin 39.3.2
- ^ Bennett, Chris. "Ptolemy X". Egyptian Royal Genealogy. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ a b c d Hölbl 2001, pp. 206–207
- ^ a b c Hölbl 2001, pp. 207–210
- ^ Justin (historian), Epitome of Pompeius Trogus 39.4.1; Pausanias 1.9.2
- ^ Bennett, Chris. "Cleopatra Selene". Egyptian Royal Genealogy. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ Diodorus, Bibliotheca 34/35.39a; Justin 39.4.1-2
- ^ Bennett, Chris. "Ptolemy Apion". Egyptian Royal Genealogy. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
- ^ Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 13.324-364
- ^ a b c d e Hölbl 2001, pp. 211–213
- ^ Pausanias 1.9.3
- ^ Plutarch Life of Lucullus 2-3; Appian, Mithridatica 33
- ^ Cicero Ac. 1.2.11
- ^ Hölbl 2001, pp. 205–206
- ^ Ioannis Svoronos, Ta nomismata tou kratous ton Ptolemaion, Athens, 1904, vol. I-II, p. 302 (n°1838), & vol. III-IV, plate LXI, n°22, 23.
- ^ Werner Huß, Ägypten in hellenistischer Zeit. C. H. Beck, Munich 2001, p. 674-675
- ^ Justin Epitome of the Philippic History 39.4
- ^ Whitehorne 1994, p. 176.
- ^ Sullivan 1990, p. 92.
- ^ Fletcher 2008, p. 353.
- ISBN 978-1-405-17935-5.
- ^ Bennett 1997, p. 54.
- ^ Bennett, Chris. "Berenice III". Egyptian Royal Genealogy. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
Bibliography
- Bennett, Christopher J. (1997). "Cleopatra V Tryphæna and the Genealogy of the Later Ptolemies". Ancient Society. 28. Peeters Publishers: 39–66. ISSN 0066-1619.
- Fletcher, Joann (2008). Cleopatra the Great: The Woman Behind the Legend. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-83173-1.
- Hölbl, Günther (2001). A History of the Ptolemaic Empire. London & New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415201454.
- Sullivan, Richard (1990). Near Eastern Royalty and Rome, 100–30 BC. Phoenix: Supplementary Volume. Vol. 24. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-802-02682-8.
- Whitehorne, John (1994). Cleopatras. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-05806-3.
External links
- Ptolemy IX Lathyrus entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
- Ptolemy IX (Soter) at Thebes by Robert Ritner